This is to the man who insisted on being a complete and utter jerk at my counter – not once, but twice – over the passed week or so…
I did not short-change you. If I had made a mistake, I would have happily (and rather apologetically) fixed it for you. I didn’t appreciate, however, being spoken down to (rather meanly, in front of other customers) over a mistake that I didn’t make. I got the owner of the store to look at the tapes with me, because I wanted to know…. and you were wrong. I never short-changed you. The video doesn’t lie. And the fact that this entire thing was over a dollar was mind-blowing.
My second encounter with you (though I didn’t realize you were the same person until after the fact) involved being yelled at for a mistake someone else supposedly made (which I had no prior knowledge of), when I was trying to be nice and save you a few cents in the first place.
You came in again today and I was tempted to tell you all of this, but it doesn’t really matter. Even if I had made a mistake (which I do, sometimes), I don’t think I deserved to be spoken to like that. In the end, though, I just feel sorry for you. I can’t imagine someone so bitter and angry being a very happy person. 🙂
—No one important
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.
Something similar happened to me in my store last year. A man came in and opened a bag of peanuts, tried a few, then put them back. I took the bag and approached him and told him that if he wants to try something, he’s gonna have to buy it first. This man yelled right in my face- loud- and with a wagging finger too, in front of customers saying he didn’t want to waste his time returning something that could be stale when he gets home. Wow. Some people don’t understand that the people who are serving you don’t actually MAKE the product you want to buy. Take it up with Planters, mister! These things are not our fault, but I think some people just make a day of pissing people off.
Maybe you should have just passed over the week.
Next time just refuse to serve him… end of story.. been there done it